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    Problems in Ellen White’s Day

    More than one has wondered out loud about what Ellen White might say on these issues were she alive today. Fortunately, we need not wonder long, for, as the adage goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”EGWCPT 8.3

    In Mrs. White’s day the church faced three problems with regard to both tithe and offerings:EGWCPT 8.4

    • Some leaders at church headquarters diverted funds entrusted to their care. Instead of allocating the funds to the purpose designated by the donor, the money was used for other church projects.

    • On occasion some church members withheld payment of the tithe, either in whole or in part, using it to cover personal emergencies at home.

    • Sometimes church members decided that they—not conference officials—should choose the projects upon which their tithe should be expended.

    Mrs. White wrote against all three of these irregularities. And what she said in her day needs to be said again in our day.EGWCPT 8.5

    As we survey Mrs. White’s various essays on the subject, we see her making three particular points, always in her typically forthright manner.EGWCPT 8.6

    1. God Blesses the Donor

    In 1870, Ellen White told the leaders of the church, concerning funds that had been misapplied: “The means thus dedicated has not always been appropriated as the self-sacrificing donors designed. Covetous, selfish men, having no spirit of self-denial or self-sacrifice themselves, have handled unfaithfully means thus brought into the treasury.” 1Testimonies for the Church 2:518EGWCPT 8.7

    In spite of this malfeasance, Mrs. White went on to encourage the donors with these words: “Those self-sacrificing, consecrated ones who render back to God the things that are His, as He requires of them, will be rewarded according to their works. Even though the means thus consecrated be misapplied so that it does not accomplish the object which the donor had in view—the glory of God and the salvation of souls—those who made the sacrifice in sincerity of soul, with an eye single to the glory of God, will not lose their reward.” 2Testimonies for the Church 2:518, 519EGWCPT 8.8

    What an encouragement those words must have been to church members whose money did not always go as the donor had intended! Fortunately, we today are much less likely to be confronted by a similar situation because clear, unequivocal denominational policies require funds to go as specified by the donor, and church auditors—at all levels—monitor such procedures carefully and continuously.EGWCPT 8.9

    Does that mean, then, that if my funds are misapplied, I should not complain, because I’m going to receive my blessing anyway? No, not according to Ellen White.EGWCPT 8.10

    2. Speak to the Proper Ones

    Mrs. White spelled out the duty church members have when they feel that their tithes and offerings are being improperly used. She counseled: “Some have been dissatisfied and have said: ‘I will not longer pay my tithe for I have no confidence in the way things are managed at the heart of the work.’ But will you rob God because you think the management of the work is not right?EGWCPT 8.11

    “Make your complaint, plainly and openly, in the right spirit, to the proper ones. Send in your petitions for things to be adjusted and set in order; but do not withdraw from the work of God, and prove unfaithful, because others are not doing right.” 3Testimonies for the Church 9:249EGWCPT 9.1

    Mrs. White did not counsel silence at the price of expediency. After telling the church member to “make your complaint,” she went on to specify how such complaints should be made.EGWCPT 9.2

    (a)” Plainly and openly.” No innuendos; no dark hints of mysterious wrongs too horrible to be uttered in the light of day. None of this “If you knew what I know,” etc.EGWCPT 9.3

    (b)” In the right spirit.” Criticism can be constructive or destructive. While Ellen White never sanctioned the latter; she applauded and recommended the former. Often the key factor is not what is done, but how it is done.EGWCPT 9.4

    (c)” To the proper ones.” In Matthew 18 Jesus specifies that when we have a grievance against a brother in the church, we should go to him alone in seeking to ameliorate the situation. If that initiative fails, we should go again, with one or two other Christians as witnesses. If that also fails, then—and only then—“Tell it unto the church” (v. 17).EGWCPT 9.5

    Calling this Christ’s “recipe,” 4The Upward Look, 106 Mrs. White says we are to follow this principle “in all cases and under all circumstances.” 5The Upward Look, 136 And, in the process, we are “not to make it a matter of comment and criticism among ourselves; nor even after it is told to the church, are we at liberty to repeat it to others.” 6The Desire of Ages, 441EGWCPT 9.6

    A certain “Brother D,” in 1885, created a problem in his church by clandestinely telling church members that “the leaders in this work are designing, dishonest men, engaged in deceiving the people.” Mrs. White wrote that Brother D’s activity did not bear the signet of heaven. She counseled a much better way. She said,EGWCPT 9.7

    “He has not conformed to the Bible rule and conferred with the leading brethren.… Let him come upon an equality with his brethren; if he has difficulties with them in regard to their course of action, let him show wherein their sin lies.” 7Testimonies for the Church 5:289, 290EGWCPT 9.8

    3. The Tithe Not to be Withheld or Diverted

    But, we may ask, are there no circumstances under which individual church members may feel free to dispense their tithe as they please? The answer: Ellen White never even considered such an option.EGWCPT 9.9

    In Mrs. White’s day some Seventh-day Adventists either withheld their tithes and offerings altogether, or diverted their tithe by applying it to projects of their own choosing. This was done because the conference business, in the eyes of the member, was being improperly administered, and unworthy ministers were being paid from the tithe.EGWCPT 9.10

    In an article entitled, “Existing Evils and Their Remedy,” Mrs. White wrote, in 1890:EGWCPT 9.11

    “You who have been withholding your means from the cause of God, read the book of Malachi, and see what is spoken there in regard to tithes and offerings. Cannot you see that it is not best under any circumstances to withhold your tithes and offerings because you are not in harmony with everything your brethren do? Unworthy ministers may receive some of the means thus raised; but dare anyone, because of this, withhold from the treasury, and brave the curse of God? I dare not.EGWCPT 9.12

    “If the Conference business is not managed according to the order of the Lord, that is the sin of the erring ones. The Lord will not hold you responsible for it, if you do what you can to correct the evil. But do not commit sin yourselves by withholding from God His own property.” 8An Appeal to Our Ministers and Conference Committees, 27EGWCPT 9.13

    Nearly two decades later Ellen White’s convictions were still the same. She wrote, in 1909: “Let none feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use according to their own judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in an emergency, nor to apply it as they see fit, even in what they may regard as the Lord’s work.EGWCPT 9.14

    “A very plain, definite message has been given to me for our people. I am bidden to tell them that they are making a mistake in applying the tithe to various objects which, though good in themselves, are not the object to which the Lord has said that the tithe should be applied.” 9Testimonies for the Church 9:247, 248.EGWCPT 9.15

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